Scottish Executive

Air Services

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will meet with, and make representations to, any interested parties, other than Her Majesty's Government and civil servants, in regard to the Public Service Obligation application for the Inverness to Gatwick air link and, if so, which organisations and individuals it intends to meet.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has no plans to meet with other interested parties at this time but will continue to liaise with local stakeholders on the securing of Inverness access to Gatwick Airport.

Air Services

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that there are no procedural or technical impediments to the grant of the Public Service Obligation application submitted on behalf of Highland Council in respect of the Inverness to Gatwick air links.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive believes that the case submitted to the UK Government to secure Inverness' access to Gatwick Airport meets the required criteria set out in European Regulations.

Care of Elderly People

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that older people are aware of the free personal and nursing care scheme commencing on 1 July 2002.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has launched an extensive public information campaign which will inform older people, their families and carers of what the policy will deliver from 1 July.

Central Heating

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it gives to householders on the prevention of heat loss.

Margaret Curran: Advice on best use of energy and budgeting is given under the Executive’s Warm Deal and Central Heating Programmes. The Executive also fund the Energy Efficiency Advice Centres which give free energy efficiency advice to householders across Scotland.

Central Heating

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23036 by Iain Gray on 7 March 2002, what progress was finally made on the target of Eaga Partnership (Scotland) to install 3,500 heating systems under the Central Heating Installation Programme by March 2002.

Ms Margaret Curran: Eaga met the target and installed 3,559 central heating systems in 2001-02.

Climate Change

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to expand its Community Leadership and Climate Change in Scotland document by introducing the full Councils for Climate Protection programme.

Allan Wilson: The Executive is awaiting the outcome of the Councils for Climate Protection pilot in England and Wales, due to be completed later this month. This will inform the on-going consideration the Executive is giving to ways in which it can further engage with Scottish local authorities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Cremation

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23688 by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 March 2002, what procedure is in place to deal with a situation where an E1 form, issued by a procurator fiscal in relation to the disposal of mortal remains by cremation and requiring a cause of death, contains no specific cause of death.

Malcolm Chisholm: As stated in the answer given to question S1W-23688, Procurators Fiscal are aware that under the provisions of the Cremation (Scotland) Regulations 1935, cause of death should be detailed on Form E1. Final authorisation for cremation lies with the Medical Referee who will make any inquiries deemed necessary.

Dentistry

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to set guidelines on when a dentist can refuse to treat a patient.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: No. A dental practitioner may decline to provide treatment under general dental services to a patient whom he or she has not accepted for care and treatment under capitation or continuing care arrangement or has de-registered from such an arrangement in accordance with the National Health Service (General Dental Services) (Scotland) Regulations 1996.

  Under the National Health Service (Dental Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 1989, a dental practitioner providing general dental services may also decline to begin treatment or to continue with it, until the patient has paid any charge due to the practitioner.

Dentistry

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SEhd027/2002 of 25 April 2002, what the implications are for (a) general dental practitioners and (b) acute dental services in (i) Grampian and (ii) Tayside and whether both regions will have full access to available funding.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: General dental practitioners in both areas will benefit from elements of the Executive’s "Golden Hello" package directly and indirectly. Grampian is included in the designated areas targeted for additional resources as agreed with the British Dental Association Scotland. Consequently, dentists who have completed their vocational training and enter substantive general dental practice in Grampian will receive a £10,000 allowance over two years and dental graduates taking up their training year in this area will receive an allowance of £3,000. In Tayside, dentists who have completed their vocational training and enter substantive general dental practice will receive a £5,000 allowance over two years.

  The package is aimed at general dental practice and not at the acute sector.

Domestic Abuse

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what practical facilities it provides to organisations in the Central Scotland parliamentary region which (a) support male victims of domestic abuse and (b) assist fathers experiencing problems with hostile ex-partners in gaining appropriate contact with their children, broken down by organisation and constituency.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive does not directly support any organisations which support male victims of domestic abuse. It does however provide £79,500 under Section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to Family Mediation Central Scotland. The aim of mediation is to enable divorced or separated parents to come to negotiated agreements about practical arrangements such as contact with children. The service also provides two contact centres, in Alloa and Falkirk, which can help parents maintain contact with their children after separation.

Drug Misuse

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the deployment of police resources to detect, arrest and charge individuals involved in both the supply and consumption of cannabis represents a productive use of police time.

Dr Richard Simpson: The deployment of police resources is entirely an operational matter for individual chief constables. The police, of course, have a clear duty to uphold the law in relation to illegal drugs.

Drug Misuse

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is an appropriate level and range of drug addiction treatment facilities in the Inverclyde area.

Dr Richard Simpson: The level and range of drug addiction treatment facilities is a matter for the Argyll and Clyde Alcohol and Drug Action Team and its constituent agencies, including the NHS board and Inverclyde Council. The Executive monitors drug action team activities through the annual corporate accountability process. Drug action teams were due to report on current services and their plans by 30 April.

  Executive funding for drug treatment services to the NHS board, from which Inverclyde will benefit, has increased by over £645,000 over the three years 2001-02 to 2003-04. Annual provision now stands at over £1.2 million. Executive funding for rehabilitation to Inverclyde over the same period has increased by £339,000.

Drug Misuse

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what role the voluntary sector plays in treating drug addiction.

Dr Richard Simpson: Under the drugs strategy, treatment and care services, including information, advice, counselling and day and residential care, are delivered by a range of agencies, including NHS boards, local authorities and the voluntary sector. Voluntary sector organisations provide a broad range of services, usually commissioned and purchased by NHS boards and local authorities. There are voluntary sector providers in all drug action team (DAT) areas.

  In addition, it is an integral part of the drugs strategy that community views should inform the work of DATs and their constituent agencies. This includes the views of voluntary organisations with an interest, whether or not they provide drug misuse services. Voluntary sector involvement in the work of DATs is monitored annually by the Executive.

  Voluntary organisations also participate in policy development at national level.

Economy

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which of its policies will close the gap in GDP growth between Scotland and the south east of England.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive is committed to increasing the long-term growth rate of the Scottish Economy.

  The Executive has introduced a new economic strategy for Scotland with an emphasis upon science and skills. While recognising that there are no short-term solutions we are confident that our policies, within a stable macro-economic framework, will help to ensure future growth.

Education

Elaine Thomson (Aberdeen North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to close any widening of the gap in attainment levels between pupils from advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds in Aberdeen.

Nicol Stephen: The Standards in Scotland’s Schools Act 2000 puts a duty on all local authorities, including Aberdeen City, to publish an Annual Statement of Improvement Objectives showing how they will meet the National Priorities in education, and help to close the achievement gap.

  Funding for a range of national initiatives is in place to support disadvantaged children in Aberdeen and throughout Scotland.

Fire Service

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it proposes to support the work of firefighters.

Dr Richard Simpson: We have just launched a consultative policy paper entitled The Scottish Fire Service of the Future . This paper sets out our proposals to further develop and improve the fire service in Scotland. Implicit in all of this is the Executive’s continued support for the work of the fire service. A copy of the consultation paper is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Fisheries

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in addressing the environmental impact of sea cage fish farming on rivers, lochs and seas.

Allan Wilson: Appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the environment, but we are continually refining these in the light of experience and scientific advice, to ensure that processes that have a disproportionate impact on the environment do not proceed.

  Research is going on to examine Scottish waters to assess contribution of various activities, including fish farming, to eutrophication. A review of possible links between aquaculture, eutrophication and shellfish poisoning events is also under way. We are scoping the further necessary research required to establish the carrying capacity of coastal waters.

  The Area Management Agreement process is helping to increase trust between fish farmers and wild fishery interests, to work together and resolve local problems, especially sea lice. Escapes must be prevented, and site specific containment and contingency plans are now required in support of all fish farm applications. Legislation to require reporting of escapes was laid before Parliament on 19 April 2002.

Forestry

Alex Fergusson (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether timber is an asset to the rural economy.

Allan Wilson: Timber is indeed a significant asset to the rural economy and we look forward to it having an increasing impact. The forestry industry in Scotland currently employs over 10,000 people, most of whom live in rural areas. The industry will, however, develop as timber production from our forests is set to double over the next 10 to 15 years. One of the strategic directions in our Scottish Forestry Strategy is "To maximise the value to the Scottish economy of the wood resource becoming available over the next 20 years" We aim to maximise the value to the rural economy of this timber resource becoming available by working closely with the Scottish Forest Industries Cluster to promote competitiveness and innovation.

Freedom of Information

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give examples of any information that it would not have told the Parliament previously but that it now would, following the passing of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill.

Mr Jim Wallace: It is not possible to predict what information will be made available after the passing of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill. Consideration of whether requested information will be disclosed will be on a case-by-case basis.

  Until the bill comes into force, the Executive will continue to disclose information in accordance with the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information.

Freedom of Information

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill will allow it to make available all the correspondence between it and Her Majesty’s Government in connection with changes to the Scotland/England fishing boundary made in April 1999.

Ross Finnie: The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill is not yet in force. As all requests for information made under the bill would be considered on a case-by-case basis, with regard to the exemptions in the bill and the public interest, it is not possible to provide a definitive answer.

  However, under the current Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information (which will in due course be superseded by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act), this correspondence is exempt from release as it is information whose disclosure would harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion (Exemption 2 in Part II of the Code) and whose disclosure would be contrary to the public interest.

Freedom of Information

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the passing of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill, whether it will act as if the provisions of the bill were in force from 25 April 2002.

Mr Jim Wallace: It will not be possible for the Executive to operate as if the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill were in force from 25 April 2002 because many aspects of the Freedom of Information regime to be established by the bill are not yet in place. Most notably, the Scottish Information Commissioner is yet to be appointed and will need to be in place before certain preparations begin, for example, the development of publication schemes.

  In the meantime, the Executive will continue to consider the disclosure of information in accordance with the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information.

Freedom of Information

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the passing of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill, whether it will urge non-departmental public bodies, including Scottish Natural Heritage and Scottish Enterprise, to respond to requests for information as if the bill was in force from 25 April 2002.

Mr Jim Wallace: It will not be possible for non-departmental public bodies, including those referred to, to operate as if the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Bill were in force from 25 April 2002 because many aspects of the Freedom of Information regime to be established by the bill are not yet in place. Most notably, the Scottish Information Commissioner is yet to be appointed and will need to be in place before certain preparations begin, for example, the development of publication schemes.

Genetically Modified Crops

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will specify the precise provisions under which it was required to grant approval for the GM crop trials; whether it had any discretion to refuse such approvals, and whether any such discretion could have been exercised, giving its position on these matters in respect of each trial.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive is bound, by Article 6.1 and 6.2 of Directive 90/220/EEC, to consider whether an application to release a genetically modified organism into the environment does, or does not, comply with the terms set out elsewhere in the directive. Ministers are required to grant consent for a release, where they are satisfied that the application is in compliance with the directive and will not pose a threat to human health or environmental safety. A moratorium or refusal to grant approval would be illegal unless based on sound scientific evidence of potential harm.

  Scottish ministers discharge their responsibility to base their decisions on sound scientific evidence by referring applications to expert advisory bodies; principally the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE). ACRE examines all relevant material in relation to a proposed release and advises ministers as to whether, in its opinion, the release will pose a threat to the environment.

  Scottish ministers have powers under Article 6.6 of Directive 90/220/EEC to modify the conditions of, suspend or terminate GM crop trials where, at any time, information becomes available which could have significant consequences for the risks posed by the release. No such sound scientific evidence has emerged which might call into question the safety of any of the Scottish trials.

Health

Mr John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to develop health care services in rural communities.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive has introduced a new formula for allocating funding to NHS boards to ensure that full account is taken of the additional costs of providing services in remote and rural areas.

  We have also introduced a range of measures to support health services in rural communities. These include funding of £8 million for the Remote and Rural Areas Resource Initiative (RARARI); and substantial investment to help recruit, retain and support GPs in rural practice, to develop community nursing services and to harness new technology.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24021 by Malcolm Chisholm on 26 March 2002, which Local Health Care Co-operatives (LHCC) participate in the scheme to assess the needs of local people and provide appropriate services focusing on improving health and reducing inequalities and how many patients in each LHCC are benefiting from this new approach to community based services and initiatives.

Malcolm Chisholm: All LHCCs have an important role in developing population-wide approaches to health improvement and disease prevention, for all those in the communities they serve.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that structures are in place to ensure that any adverse drug reactions in patients are picked up at the earliest possible stage in situations where there are concerns about the potential side effects of a drug.

Malcolm Chisholm: The safety of medicines is a reserved matter and is the responsibility of the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) and the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM).

  The MCA has advised that various data sources are used for monitoring drug safety. This includes the Yellow Card Scheme, where health professionals’ report suspected adverse drug reactions to the MCA/CSM. The value of spontaneous reporting schemes such as the Yellow Card Scheme is in the early identification of possible drug hazards. The other data sources used regularly in the monitoring of drug safety in the UK include formal safety studies, published medical literature, information from pharmaceutical companies and other regulatory authorities throughout the world. When a new safety issue is confirmed, regulatory action is taken to minimise risk. This may include strengthened product warnings or restricting the terms of the marketing authorisation. Rarely, if there is evidence that the balance of risks and benefits is no longer favourable, it may be necessary to remove the medicine from the market.

  The MCA/CSM monitor the safety of all new medicines under the "black triangle scheme" where any of the following circumstances apply: if the medicine contains a new active substance or a combination of active substances; if the medicine is administered via a new route or drug delivery system; if the medicine is going to be used in a new population of patients.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated annual quantity and cost is of unused drugs and medicines, given that 47,000 kg of medicines are returned to community pharmacies each year at a cost of £15 million, and what is being done to reduce wastage and expenditure in this area.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is not possible to estimate the quantity and cost of unused medicines which are not handed in to community pharmacies for safe disposal.

  We set out in The Right Medicine – A Strategy for Pharmaceutical Care in Scotland (Bib. number 18835) the actions we will be taking to help patients understand how to use their medicines to best effect. This will help reduce wastage through non-compliance.

Health

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what paediatric care exists for patients living in Caithness and Sutherland.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for NHS Highland. However, I understand that the Medical Paediatrics Department at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness provides a service for the whole of the Highland area, including patients in Caithness and Sutherland.

Hospitals

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of hospital wards is mixed.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answers given to questions S1W-24761 on 2 May 2002, S1W-24762 on 29 April 2002 and S1W-24763 on 29 April 2002.

Housing

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases in 2001-02 local authority property was recovered under section 49 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, broken down by local authority.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information requested is not held centrally.

Justice

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the level of compliance with community service orders imposed by courts as an alternative to custody.

Dr Richard Simpson: Breach applications made to the courts in 2000-01 in respect of Community Service Orders amounted to around one in every four orders. There is always scope for improvement but the breach rate is not dissimilar to that found for other community disposals.

Justice

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations the Crown Office has received about the retention of evidence related to the Lockerbie bombing case and what action it has taken.

Elish Angiolini QC: Relatives of 79 of the victims have requested that Crown Office arrange the return of personal items of property. Crown Office has received representations about the retention of evidence from the sister of one of the victims, a journalist, a Member of Parliament, a Member of the Scottish Parliament and a solicitor.

  The Lord Advocate has instructed the police to return the personal property to the next of kin in the near future. All property which is to be returned will be photographed or copied by the police.

  No evidence used in the Lockerbie trial and appeal has been disposed of or destroyed and there is no intention to dispose of any evidence which is relevant to the issue of culpability while the possibility of criminal proceedings against other individuals remains open.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23427 by Malcolm Chisholm on 22 March 2002, when the anti-stigma campaign will be launched and who will be involved in developing this campaign.

Malcolm Chisholm: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-24587 on 22 April 2002.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning will reply to my letter of 27 February 2002 regarding the Larkhall to Milngavie railway line.

Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to my letter of 29 April 2002.

Ministerial Meetings

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what records are kept in relation to meetings between ministers and MSPs.

Mr Jack McConnell: Ministers meet regularly with MSPs of all parties, both formally and informally. No central records are kept but, depending on the nature of the meeting, a record may be prepared by the Minister’s Private Office or other Scottish Executive officials.

NHS Finance

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the First Minister what assistance the Scottish Executive can offer to NHS boards in financial difficulty.

Mr Jack McConnell: Resources are allocated to NHS boards on the basis of need. Boards are held to account for managing within the allocations made to them and for achieving national and local targets.

  The Health Department will support boards to achieve these targets through regular monitoring and performance management.

Planning

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make the research commissioned into the effectiveness of the Planning and Compensation Act 1991 public and what measures it intends to take in light of the research findings.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Executive has recently received the final report of the research on the Review of Old Mineral Permissions  and is currently considering how to take the matter forward.

Planning

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what statistics it holds in regard to the number of retrospective planning applications that are (a) granted and (b) refused, broken down by local authority.

Ms Margaret Curran: Planning application statistics held by the Executive do not distinguish between normal planning applications and those made retrospectively.

Post Office

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government about the consequences for postal services in Scotland as a result of the Postcomm proposals for market liberalisation.

Allan Wilson: Consignia, post offices and postal services are reserved matters. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including Postcomm’s consultation.

Post Office

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact will be on (a) rural and (b) urban areas of any reduction in the number of postbuses as a result of Consignia’s restructuring proposals.

Allan Wilson: Consignia, post offices and postal services are reserved matters. I understand Consignia is not able to say at the moment if its restructuring proposals will have an impact on postbus services.

Post Office

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many post offices there were in each of the last five years.

Allan Wilson: Consignia, post offices and postal services are reserved matters. According to the Department of Trade and Industry the number of Scottish post offices were as follows:

  


End of March 1998 
  

2,051 
  



End of March 1999 
  

2,026 
  



End of March 2000 
  

1,999 
  



End of March 2001 
  

1,933 
  



End of March 2002 
  

1,907

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24283 by Mr Jim Wallace on 4 April 2002, whether it or the Scottish Prison Service (a) has approached or (b) will approach the persons who made the offers for the buildings of former HM Prison Penninghame to request the waiver of commercial confidentiality so that the information in the offers can be made available to the Parliament, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  (a) No.

  (b) We do not propose to do so. My answer to question S1W-24283 on 4 April 2002 reflects the current position.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23458 by Mr Jim Wallace on 4 April 2002, on what dates offers were received for the buildings of HM Prison Penninghame and how many offers were received on each date.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Two offers were received for the buildings at HM Prison, Penninghame on 3 May 2000. One further offer was received on 11 August 2000.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs of the Scottish Prison Service college have been in each of the last five financial years and the present year to date, detailing each head of costs.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The readily available information on costs covering Training and Development, Management and Organisational Development and Customer Services is as follows:

  





£ million 
  



1997-98 
  

3.0 
  



1998-99 
  

3.3 
  



1999-2000 
  

3.3 
  



2000-01 
  

3.5 
  



2001-02 
  

3.5

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, whether it will guarantee that a proportion of prison officers will be transferred from the prisons to be closed under the estates review to the new private prisons and, if so, what proportion will be transferred, and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, whether prison officers transferred from the prisons to be closed under the estates review to new private prisons will retain their present status, salary and pension rights.

Mr Jim Wallace: No such transfers are proposed.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why no evaluation was made in the Scottish Prison Service estates review of market-testing of the management of prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: Such an evaluation is irrelevant to the proposals. The Scottish Prison Service has at present no plans to market test the management of prisons.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, whether, in agreeing the operation specification for a private prison, it would specify a minimum acceptable staffing level.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Prison Service see no need to do so but they would consider such matters during the procurement process.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, what procedures will be used for vetting the operating track record of companies tendering to operate private prisons.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, whether it envisages ensuring by contract or otherwise that it has the power to veto the takeover of the operator of one of the private prisons envisaged in the review and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: Such matters would fall to be considered by the Scottish Prison Service in the procurement process.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Prison Service estates review, in estimating the cost of private prisons, has included the cost of applying freedom of information provisions to the private prison operators and, if so, what these costs were estimated as being and how they were arrived at.

Mr Jim Wallace: No, but the costs are likely to be minimal in relation to the total costs.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, whether it will detail all types of information that will be regarded as commercially confidential in its dealings with private prison operators.

Mr Jim Wallace: Such details would be considered by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) in the procurement process. The intention would be to maximise the information availability subject to consideration of any potential impact on security and value for money as was done by SPS in the contract for HM Prison Kilmarnock.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, whether it would envisage drawing staff from a private prison in the event of a contingency such as a riot at another prison facility and, if so, whether any payment would be made, detailing the services that would be provided and the payment envisaged.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  At present all prisons participate in mutual aid arrangements without payment. We see no reason why this practice should not continue, but we would take a final view in the procurement process.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will release figures comparing relative improvements in literacy, numeracy or other basic skills for prisoners serving terms of imprisonment at private prisons and at public prisons and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  No such data is currently available within SPS as a whole. Since prisoners move between prisons during their sentence it is difficult to make meaningful comparisons.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) estates review, what basic standards it envisages putting in place for improvements in literacy, numeracy and other basic skills among prisoners serving terms of imprisonment at private prisons, whether any key performance indicators will relate to these standards, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Prison Service’s Vision is to improve its correctional services of which literacy, numeracy and basic skills are a part. There already are KPI’s relating to education, prisoner programmes and approved prisoner activities covering all existing prisons including HM Prison Kilmarnock, and SPS is and will be able to establish suitable contractual arrangements to achieve this.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, what guarantees it envisages putting in place to prevent a private prison operator withdrawing from operating a prison in breach of its contract.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Prison Service would intend putting suitable contractual arrangements in place as in the past.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, what basic standards it envisages for social work at private prisons, whether these will include involvement of social workers in induction, work with families, pre-release work with inmates, sentence planning and suicide risk management, and what key performance indicators will relate to these, giving the reasons for its position on these matters.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Prison Service’s Vision is to improve its correctional services, of which these features are a part, in all present and future prisons, and is, and will be, able to establish suitable contractual arrangements to achieve this.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, whether it envisages setting in its contracts for private prisons a limit on waiting times to see a social worker and whether this will be a key performance indicator, giving the reasons for its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Prison Service’s Vision is to improve its correctional services, of which prison social work is part, in all present and future prisons, and is, and will be, able to establish suitable contractual arrangements to achieve this.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, whether it envisages setting in its contracts for private prisons basic standards for drug detoxification facilities and whether this will be a key performance indicator, giving the reasons for its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Prison Service’s Vision is to improve its correctional services, of which drug regimes are a part, in all present and future prisons; and is, and will be, able to establish suitable contractual arrangements to achieve this.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, what basic standards it envisages for medical services at private prisons, giving the reasons for its position on this matter

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  Health care services within prisons are provided in accordance with the Prison Rules and SPS’ Health Care Standards. We have recently affirmed our commitment to continued improvement in the delivery of quality health care services through the publication of our Framework for Clinical Governance, which will apply in all our prisons.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in relation to the Scottish Prison Service estates review, whether it envisages in its contracts for private prisons or otherwise setting basic standards for training of staff in private prisons, for qualification of staff trainers and for verification of such standards and whether there will be any related key performance indicators, giving the reasons for its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: Suitable contractual arrangements already exist for HM Prison Kilmarnock in relation to these, and the Scottish Prison Service would expect to aim to put a similar arrangement in place in any future contracts.

Public Appointments

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the tenure of the present Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne expires; whether the post will be publicly advertised; whether there will be an opportunity for the users of Caledonian MacBrayne services to participate in any selection process for the appointment of a new chairman; what selection process will be used to decide which candidates will be interviewed for the post of chairman; what criteria will be employed to ensure that the selection process for an appointment is fair and impartial, and whether the criticism expressed by Dame Rennie Fritchie, the Commissioner for Public Appointments, regarding the appointment process of the present chairman will be taken into account in any new selection process.

Lewis Macdonald: The present Chairman of Caledonian MacBrayne was appointed for a three-year term from 1 August 1999. An announcement relating to the future arrangements for this post will be made in due course. The processes and procedures for public appointments, including the involvement of independent advisers, are set out in the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) Code of Practice. These procedures are strictly followed for all appointments to Caledonian MacBrayne. They were introduced to ensure the selection process for public appointments is fair, impartial and transparent. The commissioner’s comments in relation to the 1999 appointment process have been borne in mind in all subsequent appointment processes, including those relating to Caledonian MacBrayne. One of the main conclusions of the commissioner’s report was that the present chairman was appointed on merit.

Rail Network

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23553 by Lewis Macdonald on 15 March 2002, in the light of Railtrack’s announcement that it is completely pulling out of the Larkhall to Milngavie project, what alternative options the Executive is investigating and whether these will require the amendment or repeal of the British Railways (No.3) Order Confirmation Act 1994.

Lewis Macdonald: In a letter dated 4 December 2001, Railtrack advised that at that time the delivery of its core maintenance and renewal programme left no signalling or management resources available to support the Larkhall-Milngavie rail project. Since then, the Scottish Executive has been pressing the Strategic Rail Authority and Railtrack, to take this project forward. We have also continued to support Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPTE) to try and find practical ways to keep this scheme moving forward. These various discussions are ongoing.

  As my reply made clear, the amendment or repeal of the British Railways (No. 3) Order Confirmation Act 1994 is not a matter for the Scottish Executive. It is both private legislation and a reserved matter. The provisions of the 1994 act, including the relevant parliamentary powers to make the railway, remain in force.

Rape

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Executive is taking to provide guidance and information to prevent drug rape.

Mr Jack McConnell: Information and guidance on how to reduce the risk of drug assisted sexual assault is available through the Know The Score website and information line.

  We will take into account the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency’s Strategic Assessments on the drug GHB and on Drug Assisted Sexual Assault in Scotland before guidance on these issues is published later this year.

Rape

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many rapes were reported in 2000-01 and how many convictions were obtained in each police force area.

Mr Jim Wallace: The available information on crimes of rape which were recorded by the police, and on persons with a charge proved in court, where the main offence was rape, is given in the following table:

  Crimes of Rape Recorded by the Police and Persons with Charge Proved in Court1, 2000

  


Police Force Area 
  

Number of Offences Recorded by the Police 
  

Number of Persons with a Charge Proved2




Scotland 
  

562 
  

27 
  



Central 
  

14 
  

1 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

19 
  

2 
  



Fife 
  

54 
  

0 
  



Grampian 
  

60 
  

1 
  



Lothian and Borders 
  

119 
  

10 
  



Northern 
  

15 
  

2 
  



Strathclyde 
  

219 
  

10 
  



Tayside 
  

62 
  

1 
  



  Notes:

  1. The statistics dealing with recorded crime and court proceedings are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than one victim, or a crime may be recorded in one year and proceedings taken in a subsequent year. Charges recorded by the police may also be altered as a result of the judicial process.

  2. Where rape was the main offence.

Road Safety

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24478 by Elish Angiolini QC on 9 April 2002, whether the Road Safety Research Report No.26 published by the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions is the "review into the investigation of road traffic deaths" mentioned in the answer to that question.

Elish Angiolini QC: The review referred to in the answer given to question S1W-24478 was the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's Quality and Practice Review Unit's Review of the Investigation of Road Deaths in Scotland . A summary of the review has been published and is posted on the website of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Road Safety

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24478 by Elish Angiolini QC on 9 April 2002, whether it has consulted (a) the Police Federation and (b) the Association of Chief Police Officers during the production of the revised guidance for procurators fiscal into the investigation of road traffic deaths, detailing the reasons behind its response.

Elish Angiolini QC: The revised guidance for Procurators Fiscal, referred to in the answer given to question S1W-24478, is internal guidance on which it has not been necessary to consult the police but will be based largely on the recommendations made by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's Quality and Practice Review Unit which have been published. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland has been consulted on proposals to issue Lord Advocate's guidelines to the police on the reporting of road traffic deaths.

Road Safety

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24478 by Elish Angiolini on 9 April 2002, what the process is for preparing the revised guidance for procurators fiscal in regard to the investigation of road traffic deaths and from what date the guidance will be applicable.

Elish Angiolini QC: The revised guidance for Procurators Fiscal, referred to in the answer given to question S1W-24478, will take the form of amendment to the Book of Regulations issued by Crown Office to Procurators Fiscal. It is anticipated that this guidance will be issued in the summer.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will meet MSPs representing constituents served by the A82 in order to discuss the need for upgrading the road and whether the A82 will be included in the next round of trunk road improvements, detailing the reasons behind is position on this matter.

Lewis Macdonald: Requests for meetings should be submitted directly for consideration by Ministers. The Executive will review the 1995 Route Accident Reduction Plan (RARP) for the A82 between Tyndrum and Inverness next year to identify priority schemes for inclusion in future motorway and trunk road programmes. Identified schemes will be considered against competing priorities across the Scottish trunk road network.

Schools

Iain Smith (North-East Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when a minister last visited Bell Baxter High School in Cupar and what matters were discussed.

Cathy Jamieson: I visited Bell Baxter High School on 29 April 2002, and, as indicated in the answer given to question S1O-05161 today, discussion focussed on the major building work which is under way and which will result in the school being located on one site.

Schools

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what conclusions it has drawn so far from the New Community Schools Initiative.

Cathy Jamieson: Early feedback from project reports, visits and the Ministerial Steering Group suggests that the New Community Schools Initiative is delivering significant benefits through new ways of working.

  The New Community Schools Initiative is bringing about better integrated service provision by schools and their partner agencies, making a real difference to the lives of children and their families, the development of closer relationships between schools and parents, and increasing engagement of pupils with their local communities.

  That is why we are placing the new community school approach at the heart of our education agenda, and have committed ourselves to supporting its roll out across all schools in Scotland.

Schools

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what process was followed in choosing the evaluators of the New Community Schools Initiative; how much the evaluators are being remunerated, and when the evaluators are expected to report.

Cathy Jamieson: The contract for the national evaluation of the New Community Schools pilot programme was awarded to the University of London by competitive tender in March 2000. The total cost of the three year exercise will be approximately £167,000. The evaluation team is expected to present its final report in the summer of 2003.

Schools

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the New Community Schools Initiative has cost to date.

Cathy Jamieson: Over the three years since its introduction in April 1999, the Scottish Executive has invested £26.6 million in the New Community Schools Initiative pilot programme.

Scottish Executive Contracts

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the work that PricewaterhouseCoopers and its predecessor firms have done for it in the last 10 years, specifying the work produced, the type of work and the price paid in each case.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the answer given to question S1W-22582 on 14 February 2002 provided details of expenditure with PricewaterhouseCoopers since 1997.

Scottish Executive Publications

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are plans to provide annual Greening Government reports from each of its departments.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive’s first annual Greening Government report Our Impact on the Environment published in December 2001 summarised the environmental performance of the Executive as a whole. There are no plans to produce annual Greening Government reports from each of its departments.

Scottish Water

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with Scottish Water concerning its charging policies.

Ross Finnie: Ministers accepted the advice contained in the Water Industry Commissioner’s Strategic Review of Charges in November 2001, which related to proposed revenue caps, the harmonisation of charges and cost-reflective tariffs. In the light of this decision, the three water authorities then agreed with the commissioner charging schemes and policies for Scottish Water to inherit.

Smoking

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to make (a) Nicotine Replacement Therapy and (b) Emergency Hormonal Contraception available free of charge on the NHS, through community pharmacies where appropriate.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is already happening. Nicotine Replacement Therapy is dispensed free to patients with an NHS prescription if they are personally exempt from payment of the NHS prescription charge. Emergency Hormonal Contraception is dispensed free to patients with an NHS prescription.

Special Educational Needs

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources are being made available to improve services for young people with special educational needs.

Cathy Jamieson: Local authorities receive very significant resources for education provision in the local government settlement. In addition, the following targeted resources are being provided for school education for children and young people with special educational needs:

  £20 million in both 2002-03 and 2003-04 through the National Priorities Action Fund Inclusion Programme to support inclusion and equality in Scottish schools.

  £7.8 million in both 2002-03 and 2003-04 to local authorities to provide training for teaching and other staff to enable them to support and teach effectively children with a variety of special educational needs.

  £5 million over 2002-03 and 2003-04 under the SEN Innovation Grant Programme to voluntary and non-statutory organisations.

  £8.8 million in 2002-03 to the seven grant-aided special schools.

  There is in addition a wide range of initiatives which will significantly improve services for young people with special educational needs, although they are not exclusively aimed at them. These include implementation of the Beattie Committee Report and The Same as You.

Sport

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it gives directly and through sportscotland for the establishment and running of websites by sports governing bodies.

Dr Elaine Murray: Sportscotland give advice to individual governing bodies on website and hosting issues and work with the Scottish Sports Association in considering proposals from companies who wish to provide websites to governing bodies.  sportscotland are currently working with Young Scot to help provide content for the Sport Channel of their recently launched national youth information portal. In developing the sport-specific content,  sportscotland will work with the governing bodies giving them the opportunity to provide information and contact details, including website addresses, for articles pertaining to their particular sport. This will present a new opportunity for these bodies to reach a broad youth audience. So far,  sportscotland has received a positive response from governing bodies on this.

  In addition, over the next few months and as part of an enlarged information team, sportscotland expect to appoint a new information manager, whose responsibilities will include considering the needs of governing bodies in this area.

Substance Abuse

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what services are currently provided to help and support the children of parents undergoing treatment for substance abuse.

Dr Richard Simpson: There is a range of services to support the needs of children of drug misusing parents, including generic services provided by local authorities, services funded through the Changing Childrens Services Fund and Lloyds TSB Partnership Drugs Initiative.

  The Executive has published Getting Our Priorities Right, which provides guidance on working with families where parents misuse drugs. The Executive has set a national standard that all Drug Action Teams and Child Protection Committees should have in place local policies on support to such families, in line with this guidance by the end of 2002.

Taxation

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to carry out an economic impact assessment on the impact of Her Majesty's Government's 10% tax on oil and gas profits.

Lewis Macdonald: Changes to the tax system are entirely reserved to the UK Government, but Scottish ministers work closely with the oil and gas industry, to maximise their contribution to the Scottish economy, and we will continue to do so.

Tourism

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with airline operators regarding the cost of flights to the Western Isles for tourists.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive and its agencies meet airline operators on a regular basis to discuss a range of aviation matters including the encouragement of new services, the cost of flights and the relationship of air transport with tourism.

Tourism

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with airport operators regarding reducing aircraft landing fees to encourage inward tourism.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive and its agencies meet airport operators on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of matters including the relationship of air transport with tourism.

Tourism

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish details of what procedure it will follow, including what consultation procedure it will use, in its review of area tourist boards.

Mike Watson: I will be announcing shortly how I intend to take forward the review of the area tourist boards network.

Tourism

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to incorporate area tourist boards within VisitScotland or Scottish Enterprise.

Mike Watson: I will be announcing shortly how I intend to take forward the review of the area tourist boards network and do not intend to pre-empt the outcome.

Tourism

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why it gave area tourist boards only 10 days to consider and sign contracts for involvement in e-tourism ltd.

Mike Watson: The detail of the negotiations is a matter for VisitScotland and the area tourist boards (ATB), who are partners in the Joint Venture. Three ATB Chief Executives are members of the project board.

Tourism

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a substantive answer to my question S1W-25098 lodged on 16 April 2002 in respect of the publication of access criteria for e-tourism ltd by 30 April 2002.

Mike Watson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-25098, which made clear that the criteria for advertising on the site will be covered by the business plan.

Tourism

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit is of the research being carried out by Glasgow Caledonian University in regard to tourist information centres.

Mike Watson: Neither the Scottish Executive nor VisitScotland have commissioned such research.

Tourism

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the exact remit is of VisitScotland and what performance indicators were set for it.

Mike Watson: VisitScotland has statutory responsibility under the Development of Tourism Act 1969, as amended by the Tourism (Overseas Promotion) (Scotland) Act 1984, to encourage people to visit Scotland and to encourage the provision and improvement of tourist amenities and facilities in Scotland. The performance indicators for VisitScotland are published annually in their Corporate Plan. The Executive will lead work to develop key performance indicators and targets and to develop a detailed measurement framework for the actions contained in the recently published Tourism Framework for Action . VisitScotland’s performance indicators will be revised as part of that work.

Voluntary Organisations

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what process it follows when considering funding bids and awarding funding to voluntary organisations and who is directly involved in making decisions regarding funding awards.

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria it follows in deciding whether and where funding should be awarded when it receives a recommendation that action should be taken in a certain area and whether it is its practice that, when funding is made available, the funding opportunity is advertised so that relevant voluntary organisations can submit bids.

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what evaluation of proposals it carries out before making decisions to award funding to voluntary organisations.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive provides a range of funding to the voluntary sector. Funding opportunities are advertised in the leaflet A Guide for the Voluntary Sector to Scottish Executive Grants. This guide is updated annually, is distributed widely throughout the voluntary sector, and is on our website.

  Our policies on funding the voluntary sector are set out in the Scottish Compact Good Practice Guide to Funding. Scottish Executive funding is available:

  for activities that promote Scottish Executive objectives;

  to support capacity building within organisations on the basis of agreed outputs;

  to fund core management, administrative and relevant training costs where an organisation has a continuing role in the delivery of particular policy objectives;

  for national generic infrastructure organisations and associated local networks to promote the growth and effectiveness of voluntary and community organisations, and

  on a time-limited basis, for innovative projects where the Scottish Executive has a particular interest in taking forward an experimental approach.

  Applications for funding from voluntary organisations are assessed against Scottish Executive priorities and against each individual grant scheme’s criteria, which are set by the Scottish Executive division responsible for each scheme.

  Final decisions on funding are made by ministers.